(i) Technical Field
The present invention relates to a blower pipe, a blowing device, and an image forming apparatus.
(ii) Related Art
In image forming apparatuses that form an image constituted with a developer on a recording sheet, for example, there is an image forming apparatus using a corona discharger that performs corona discharge in the process of charging a latent image holding member, such as a photoconductor or the process of neutralization, the process of transferring an unfixed image to the recording sheet, or the like.
Additionally, in the corona discharger, in order to prevent unnecessary substances, such as paper debris or a discharge product, from adhering to component parts, such as a discharge wire or a grid electrode, a blowing device that blows air against component parts may be provided. The blowing device in this case is generally constituted by a blower that sends air, and a duct (blower pipe) that guides and sends out the air sent from the blower to a target structure, such as a corona discharger.
In the related art, improvements for enabling air to be uniformly blown in the longitudinal direction of the component parts, such as a discharge wire, are variously performed on the blowing device or the like. Particularly, for a blowing device or the like, there is proposed a blowing device that does not adopt a configuration, in which the shape of a passage space of a duct through which air is caused to flow is formed in a special shape, or a configuration, in which a straightening vane or the like that adjusts a direction in which air flows is installed in the passage space of the duct, or the like, but the blowing device adopts separate configurations as illustrated below.